Supervised by the amazing Ms Merali-Smith and Ms Jeffries, we arrived at Warren Street, from where we walked to a Thai restaurant for our dinner. After our meal, we were treated to a series of little talks from the Year 11 Greeks about the main plot of the play, some points on characterisation, and a brief explanation of the importance the play holds, to whet our appetite for the performance. We set off for the Bloomsbury Theatre and before the play began, we were given a talk by the British playwright, Timberlake Wertenbaker, who enlightened us on the rewarding burden that was adapting a play from Greek to English, while still attempting to honour the original script.

‘The Bacchae’ is one of the classic Greek tragedies, which focuses on a feud between Dionysus and Pentheus, and looks at the consequences of denying a god due respect and worship. After watching the two-hour performance, which was utterly absorbing, we were all shocked by the lengths that Dionysus would go to prove himself. It was an all-round educational experience for everybody who came on the trip: the Greeks were able to gain a better understanding of the characterisation and main themes of the play, the Classical Civilisation students acquired a more enriching experience of ancient drama, mythology and the power of the gods, and we were all able to share our love of Classics with students in different year groups. The trip was a unique opportunity, and we are thankful to our teachers for taking the time to accompany us.

Written by

Rufus, Year 12

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We were given a very comprehensive guided tour, which gave us a great insight into the detailed history of Greek sculpture. This tour helped greatly in developing our understanding of the context, narrative, and content of the statues, and was a great activity in consolidating what we have already learnt on our course.

After the tour, we were given free time to explore the gallery for independent learning. This was very fun and rewarding, as we were able to travel at our own pace, digest what we have been taught during the tour and apply what we have learned to statues which we have not yet covered. It was incredible to have been able to view these artworks in the flesh, to support our learning in the classroom. Thank you to Mrs Merali-Smith and Mr Foinette for organising the trip and for accompanying us on the day.

Report written by Jonah, Year 12

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The BAFTA-longlisted short film follows a French exchange student, who visits England for the first time and finds himself at the centre of a British family dynamic.

INCREDIBLE OPPORTUNITY

Yanis plays the lead alongside, David Baddiel and Geraldine Somerville (mum of Harry Potter!!). Gorka went from going the festival route, to being nominated among the 5 best short movies at the BAFTAs!

Click here if you fancy a watch

Read the Director’s Notes: Premiere: Gorka by Joe Weiland // Comedy Drama // Directors Notes

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The Fair was attended by our own Forest pupils from Y9 to Y13, but it was so good to also welcome 200 pupils from a range of local schools. The future may look uncertain in some ways but it was reaffirming to see these young people actively engaging with the exhibitors and gathering information as they consider their next steps. And thank you to the team of Forest staff who worked so hard to organise the event, lead by our Director of Futures, Sandip Charlton.

Students’ Takeaways

Throughout the day, we spoke to different year groups attending the fair, as well as, Normanhurst School to see if they found the event useful. One of our pupils said how the experience has helped them understand better with what they now need to do:

“Now I have an idea of what universities expects from me, what grades I need to achieve, how I need to get to where I want to be for the subjects I want to study.”

We also spoke to an Old Forester (CMS Law Firm) who has attended Forest’s Careers Fair previously to help students figure out if law may be the pathway they would like to enter. He says:

“It’s a good way to speak to students what being part of a law firm is like.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/C2jp4FqNBtz/

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The Edinburgh Fringe is the biggest and most renowned open arts festival in the world, and this year our brand-new school theatre company, Quirky Robur, will be performing an original piece of theatre, Silt Song. 

https://www.instagram.com/p/C2BDUOIN_KB/

COSUME DESIGN PAGE

REHEARSAL SHOTS

REHEARSAL VIDEO

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C2kUptDte2h/

For MORE updates on our journey – follow our socials!

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We are delighted to have been listed as 28th in the Top 200 Sport Schools by School Sports Magazine.

This puts Forest in the top 1% of all state and independent schools for sporting success in 2023. Fantastic to see Forest School. Listed as the 28th best Sporting School in the country in the 90th edition of @schoolsportmag published this week. This is a wonderful reflection on the enormous achievements of our hugely talented pupils & the hard work of our dedicated staff.

Here are some SPORT highlights from 2023:

Jes competed in Block A of the Swim England Essex Championships this weekend. She won a silver medal in the 100m buttterfly and was awarded finalist medals for the 50m free, 800m free, 200m IM, 400m free, 100m back and 200m back. She will compete again in Block B in February. Well done Jes!

A fantastic Senior Football Tour to Castellon, Spain. Some great pre season training, fixtures & team bonding in the sunshine!

From earning his 1st GB Cap to facing new challenges as a full-time athlete, Rohan shares his journey. Discover his tips for aspiring players, childhood inspirations, and the joy he finds in hockey at Forest! Look out for more updates, as he tours Argentina with Great Britain!

https://www.instagram.com/reel/C0uAGCStMhs/

Issey (year 11) was invited to the Department of Education to meet with an official within the Department to discuss the rate of dropout in sports from teenage girls. Issey spoke passionately about her experiences as a Young Athlete and the effect puberty has had on her training. She also spoke about her peers’ experiences, some of whom are also athletes and some who do not currently enjoy sport. Within the meeting, there were representatives from the RSHE department who are reviewing the statutory requirements for what schools cover. By Issey telling her experiences, they understood a need to ensure schools teach the physical and emotional effects of puberty which can lead to the drop out from sport along with the Scientific process. Issey has now been put in contact with the group that designs the lessons for State schools and she will meet with them later on. This is an incredible story and one that Issey has arranged herself which shows the power of pupils talking about topics they are passionate about.

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We set this up, with the aim for students at our two schools to showcase their historical knowledge and research beyond the confines of the A-level syllabus. The event saw a success in the surroundings of Forest School and we were delighted to also welcome Dr David Smith from Selwyn College, Cambridge, who spoke to our Sixth Form historians on the subject –

‘Why was Charles I executed’?

Our students chose topics based on their own interest and curiosity.  Topics of self-assertion in the face of oppression, of language, nationality, gender and ethnicity are high on the agenda. Very significantly, studies of war and imperialism are more than ever prominent among this year’s contributions, leading us towards new insights and broader perspectives on the ways in which the past can be studied and the present can be understood.

We heard stories of how extremist ideas about power, race and gender have led to fascism, ethnic cleansing and misogyny, from the ancient world until the 20thc century. Our speakers focus on nationalist and feminist ideologies and on colonial and post-colonial violence in relation to the formation of ethnic, national and gendered identities.

Topics on coercion, control and state-sanctioned violence are explored in the contributions on colonial wars in Canada, fascist rule in Czechoslovakia and on the Punic Wars in ancient Rome. We learnt about the long-term effects of imperialism and race in the Rwandan genocide, and about race relations in the 1960’s in the contributions on the politics surrounding immigration in Britain and on policing of Algerian rebels in France. Concerns with ethnicity and nationalism are juxtaposed with a focus on gender and feminism: through a study of representations of women in classical literature, of the struggle for female suffrage in the US, and on developments in medicine and society in relation to sexuality and pregnancy.

All these are serious and profound themes, at times very painful, exposing more than anything how deeply engaged our young historians are with the world and how important they find it to explore the origins of the issues we are dealing with today and face them with knowledge and courage.

Thank you to all of our contributors – the Library staff for hosting the event, Outreach and Partnerships, Chartwell’s catering staff, IT, Estates and Reprographics staff at Forest School for their help in organising the symposium. 

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The aims of Exam-Readiness Cycle are:

To dedicate lesson time for pupils to reflect on the process of exams rather than just their content.

To embed and model a range of learning strategies and what they look like in practice within a subject. These include:

• Retrieval Practice: engaging students in quizzing and testing their knowledge frequently.
• Deliberate practice (Elaboration): activities that go through the motions of an exam, reflecting on papers through discussion &collaboration.
• Interleaving: mixing multiple topics, as happens in an examination paper.
• Exemplification (Concrete Examples): guiding pupils through model answers and exemplars.
• Dual Coding: processing information and knowledge by presenting it in a different format to the written word.
• Spaced practice: leveraging the ‘spacing effect’ by spreading out learning in order to better consolidate knowledge and skills.

To provide for a co-ordinated opportunity for pupils to reflect on the extent of their exam literacy.

To support pupils to be exam-ready in advance of the End of Year Examinations and to make the most of this crucial learning opportunity.

The expectation for teachers over the course of the cycle is:

• Substantial lesson time is devoted to modelling explicit strategies (not just the explanation of what strategies like ‘dual coding’ are but actually putting this into practice in your subject and leading this discussion/reflection)
• Homework during the cycle is targeted towards a facet of exam readiness (past paper completion, set exam questions with strict timings, explicit exercises like making mindmaps, retrieval roulette type questions, asking pupils to summarise learning and create their own question banks).
• There will be a host of very clear and informative exam readiness videos (age and stage appropriate) sent to pupils and parents through the ‘Exam Readiness Toolkit’ Sway.

We pride ourselves on our ‘every child known and valued’ ethos and know that by ensuring our exam readiness cycle encapsulates a broad range of learning strategies, our pupils enter these coming weeks learning strategies that work for them, along with all the support they need to succeed.

Good Luck All!

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“Miro’s sculpture is based on an assemblage of objects. The object upends the problem of representation; art is no longer what interprets reality but rather everyday items are the ones that adopt a new identity in the aesthetic context. The figuration of the object is conveyed by the artist’s language of signs”.

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This is an opportunity to engage and reflect deeply and meaningfully on the process of exams and to co-ordinate lesson time in all subjects towards the teaching of the skills and literacy needed to be exam ready. We hope that this will be a supportive mechanism in the run up to January Mock Examinations. Explicit teaching of exam readiness and literacy is underpinned by a raft of pedagogical and cognitive science and research – whilst this isn’t a substitution for the excellent practice that happens in lessons throughout the year to prepare students for exams, it is an extra ballast that is more directed and co-ordinated.

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